Panty-hose have heretofore been manufactured by sewing together two separate portions, each comprising a leg and one-half of the body portion. The resulting garment has the advantage of providing a comfortable fit but has the disadvantage of requiring the separate step of sewing together the two portions after they are knit and removed from the knitting machine.
It is also known to knit a one-piece panty-hose wherein the entire garment is knit in its completed form on the knitting machine as, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,673,821 to Johnson. This one-piece panty-hose has the advantage of economy of manufacture but has the disadvantage of not providing as comfortable a fit as the two-piece panty-hose, because the depth of the body portion from waist to crotch is limited by the diameter of the knitting cylinder.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a method of making a one-piece panty-hose wherein the garment is completed on the knitting machine and wherein the crotch of the body portion is spaced wale-wise from the waist opening and thereby providing any desired depth between the waist band and crotch and a consequent comfortable fit.
The process, according to the invention, has the object of setting up and completing the article directly on the machine, without any subsequent work, and without any mechanical transformation, but only with an appropriate arrangement of program for the selection of needles and dial hooks according to their present capability in existing machines, and can be easily carried out by those skilled in the art in accordance with the invention.
The process, according to the invention, substantially includes: first, the forming on the knitting needles of a short length of a first tubular fabric preparatory to forming a crotch closure (similar to the closure of the toe of a tubular article as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. Re.26,580 and 26,581 to John W. Currier, or in Italian Pat. Nos. 814,164 and 837,903 to Arrigo Micheletti). After the closure is formed as by twisting the fabric or constricting it with a thread according to the cited patents, or otherwise closed, and while the terminal course of the closure fabric is being knit dial hooks are projected to receive the loops of yarn in the terminal course until subsequently transferred onto the needles at an appropriate time. The forming of a second tubular fabric is then carried out with all the needles, during which the said closure is partially transferred from the dial hooks to the needles along a first segmental arc to join the stiches of a first segment of said closure with the stiches of a corresponding first segment of said second tubular fabric preparatory to forming a terminal course and casting off the second tubular fabric from the needles in said first segmental arc.
A third tubular fabric is formed on all the needles and as a partial continuation of the second tubular fabric by those needles outside the first segmental arc and defining a residual arc of the cylinder. During knitting of the initial course of the third tubular fabric the dial hooks are projected to receive the loops of yarn along the first segmental arc and knitting of said third tubular fabric continues to form a pouch between the needles and the dial hooks along said first segmental arc and in convergence with the second tubular fabric by the needles along the residual arc. The knitting of the third tubular fabric terminates in a welt which may be elasticized to form a waistband, after which the third tubular fabric is cast off all the needles, whereby said third tubular fabric remains engaged to the second tubular fabric along an arc of stitches corresponding to the residual arc, and to the dial hooks along said first segmental arc.
The closure is transferred from the dial hooks along said residual arc onto the respective needles and the third tubular fabric is transferred from the dial hooks along said first segmental arc onto the respective needles, and the needles are activated circumferentially to form a fourth tubular fabric which converges with the third tubular fabric along the first segmental arc and converges with the closure along the residual arc.
The first tubular fabric may define the crotch closure of a panty-hose, while the second and fourth tubular fabrics may define the two legs of a panty-hose, and while the third tubular fabric may define the body portion and waistband.
The second and fourth tubular fabric may be formed with a closure for the toe, the second tubular fabric prior to its forming, and the fourth tubular fabric at the end of its forming. For the purpose of avoiding ladders along the second tubular fabric, or otherwise, the first step in practicing the invention, if the toe portion of the second tubular fabric is to be closed on the machine is to form a closure for the second tubular fabric on a first group of needles which may be alternate needles around the cylinder. The terminal course of this toe closure is retained by said first group of needles while the first tubular fabric is knit with the remaining needles sufficient to form with the dial hooks a two-ply crotch closure. The dial hooks are projected during knitting of the initial course of said first tubular fabric to receive said initial course of the first tubular fabric or crotch closure. Then, the knitting of the second tubular fabric is begun with all the needles, thereby engaging said toe closure on the first tubular fabric.
According to another development of the invention provisions are made so that the crotch or crotch closure comprises two plies each of which may be formed from different yarns. It is contemplated to make the inner ply, that is the ply which is inside when the garment is worn, of a yarn with characteristics different than those of the yarn from which the outer ply is made.
More specifically, one may form the inner ply with a yarn which will define a fabric offering comfort in contact with the epithelium, while the outer ply may be formed with a yarn offering aesthetic requirements to the completed fabric, as it is visible. The juncture of the two plies desirably corresponds with the constricted area of the fabric to form the crotch closure.
The inner ply may for example, be made of cotton yarn and the outer one of synthetic yarn. With the use of selective color agents, the fabric dyeing may be such as not to affect the inner ply which may remain, for instance, white or of a color different than that of the remaining fabric.